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Thursday, November 21, 2013

The Trek to Triund: Serendipity on the Snow Line

Our guest blogger today is someone who has huge credits of honor to boast of in the travel blogging community. One look at her ‘About Me’ section and you’ll know why this introduction is the longest that I have written so far (and I could still add so much more!).What once began as a chance trip with friends to London in 2008 sometime during her graduation went on to snowball into something more meaningful, something that turned her life to a new direction. A Master’s degree in travel writing later, she found her passionate trysts with adventure and writing creating magic, igniting a spark which has today radiated into a beautiful world known as “The Great Affair”: Her travel blog inspiring one and all to fall in love with the world. She is one of those travel bloggers who believes in digging deeper in her travels, and consequently into her own self, a fact which is very well reflected in her blog where she shares pieces coming out directly from her heart. She has a long list of feathers to display on her blog including an array of freelancing projects and an esteemed feature in The “New York Times” among many others. Recently, she topped all this up by bringing out her memoir titled “The Only Courage”, a gripping read of her life as an adventure and a renewed sense of understanding of falling in love with the world.

Interestingly enough, all through my interactions with her across Twitter and blogs, I have been in complete awe of her writings. But what really got me attracted was her amazingly rooted and down to earth personna, an absolute delight to talk with – to converse, to discover and to learn. Besides being a writer par excellence, a traveler for the soul and a wonderful being at the core, she is an awesome sketch artist as well - painting and sketching on the move. Now, isn’t that a truly wonderful talent to have?

It’s an absolute honor as I present before you our very special guest for the evening: Candace. Candace Rose Rardon from The Great Affair!Here, she takes us along on another one of her chance trips, this time a trek to Triund in an upper suburb of Dharamsala. Read on.

Although
I’d gotten as far east as Shillong, as far west as Jaisalmer, and I’d
stood on the southernmost shores of Cape Comorin, I regretted never
going north of Delhi.

But then a serendipitous invitation from myfriends Kim and Wendy: They were heading to Dharamsala, an old hill
station in the Kangra Valley of Himachal Pradesh, and invited me to join
them. The trip made little sense logistically – I was living in Goa at
the time, and would be flying out of India from Chennai, but a final
jaunt north to the Himalayan foothills was too tempting for this traveller to resist.

Dharamsala sketch - By Candace Rose Rardon

Ourweekend in Dharamsala was as serendipitous as our decision to visit. We
had unknowingly arrived in time for Tibetan Uprising Day, which
commemorates the 1959 revolt in Lhasa against the Chinese, and were able
to attend a ceremony at the Dalai Lama’s temple complex and later join a march of protest. Both were a sea of red, blue and yellow Tibetan flags, fluttering in fierce spring winds.

The
next day, after the chants and cheers of the protest had died down, we
decided to spend our last full day in Dharamsala hiking to Triund. The
hike is a popular one among visitors, as it can be done in a day, and as
the path led us higher into the hills and even across the snow line, I
was grateful to serendipity for letting me experience this corner of
India before leaving.

The trail itself is around nine kilometers (six miles) long, and begins right in McLeod Ganj – an upper suburb of Dharamsala where most visitors choose to base themselves. Strings of prayer flagsalong either side of the path are a welcome presence – not only for the
color they bring to the scene, but for the reminder of what the entire
Tibetan community in Dharamsala is still waiting and hoping to achieve.

Triundis located at 2,842 meters above sea level (or about 9,325 feet),meaning that those climbing from McLeod Ganj will gain about 800 meters
during the hike. Each new bend in the trail brought another stunning
vista of the valleys and terraced fields below, but what I grew to look
for the most were the rhododendron trees, their vibrant red blossoms
impossible to miss.

One of the things I love most about India is that a cup of chaiis never too far away. Among the handful of tea shops located along the
trail to Triund, we chose to stop at a little place called Magic View.
After a few cups of steaming tea and a chance to rest our feet, we
continued our journey and soon crossed the snow line. Morning sunlight
reflecting off the silvery slopes was a beautiful sight.

Finally
reaching Triund, we marveled at being surrounded by the snow-capped
Dhauladhar range, and were glad the clouds had parted just enough to
give us a glimpse of Mount Dhauladhar, located at 4,800 meters above sea
level. After a quick lunch, we started the trek back down to
Dharamsala, but what I found myself wondering about was what if we had
kept going – even farther into the hills.

Getting there:

Dharamsala is about 480 kilometers north of Delhi, and 200 kmsnortheast of Amritsar. It’s a 1.5-hour flight from Delhi, or you can
take a 9.5-hour train (such as the Jammu Mail) from Delhi to Chakki
Bank, where you can either hire a taxi or catch a bus for the remainder
of the journey (both options should take around 3 hours).

The hike certainly had me breathing hard at points, Agness :) But thankfully the views at Triund were worth every step - I can't recommend it enough. And have you been to Tibet before? My short time in Dharamsala definitely had me wanting to visit there!

I'm so glad to hear that, Carrie! And I know what you mean about this kind of place - there's something truly magical about them, isn't there? I hope you'll get a chance to visit Dharamsala and Triund one day.

hey mice description of even nicer place, i had visited it twice but i would like to suggest that one should stay at triund at night and if you are lucky to have a clear sky you can have your own planaterium for a night..

Search and ye shall find!

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My Yatra Diary...

Hi there! I am Arti - a 20 something girl with an inherited travel gene, often found on the road travelling with my best friend, inspiration and guide - my father. I love travelling to spiritual places and consider my external yatras as continuous learning journeys within; a journey where I seek to discover and experience the real treasures of this life someday. Besides helping my own self, this blog of mine also aims to help those planning to make a trip to these places or simply provide a virtual tour to the rest.
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